What focus track of the Berklee Music Business Program did you take?

LT: I studied in the Management track of the Music Business program while at Berklee.

What business are you currently in right now?

LT: I’m an independent concert promoter in Boston under my own company, LT LIVE. Additionally, I work as a talent buyer for MassConcerts, New England’s second largest promoter. We operate The 2200 cap Palladium in Worcester, as well as The 1200 cap Webster Theater in Hartford. Basically, an independent promoter procures talent and rents a venue to host and produce a live concert. A talent buyer is paid by a venue to procure talent on their behalf, and they are paid a salary or percentage of the profit to do so.

How do you go about marketing your business?

LT: My audience is made up of performing artists and concertgoers. They’re only interested in the shows I’m promoting, so my marketing is almost 100% based on the shows I book. The average person is much more interested in seeing a huge tour or great local show than seeing the LT LIVE name, however, attaching the LT LIVE name appropriately is important as well. When marketing my shows, I use flyers both online and in person. I generally hang my flyers (where the law permits), in college areas around the Boston area both on and off campus. Additionally, I do ”letouts” which is passing out flyers at shows and placing them strategically around the venue. For instance, if I’m booking a big indie rock local band, I might go to all the indie rock shows in the area for that month and pass out flyers to patrons as they leave the venue. However, for a large regional or national tour, the promotional push is much more complex. I’ve had positive experiences with facebook ads and I use them with most of my larger shows. Recently I promoted a show with one of the most successful death metal bands, Suffocation. For the Suffo show, I was able to create an ad on facebook that singled out fans of 20 death metal bands that shared a fanbase with Suffocation, and narrow the audience for the ad down to about 8 surrounding states, and males 18-45 years old. I also reach out to college radio stations to have them plug the show on air, and place print advertisements in various publications that people look to for show listings, such as The Phoenix and The Dig.

For LT LIVE, I also have a website listing all of my shows and telling people a bit about my business, and I really value having a nice business card, as I feel first impressions with venues, artists, and agents can be priceless.

When booking shows, what are the 3 most important factors you keep in mind?

LT: The first concern is always, is there enough room in the deal to make some money off the show. The popularity and buzz of the headliner is crucial, but sometimes an overzealous agent won’t leave room for promoter profit. If I have to sell the room out to make a little bit of profit, it may not be the best opportunity. However, if the band is a slam-dunk sellout for the proposed venue, I may think twice about it.

Second is of course, the popularity and buzz of the band in the Boston area as well as in similar markets. I do a lot of research on the draw of a headliner by contacting other promoters, using Pollstar, and following blogs and reviews. Checking previous plays in the Boston area is always a great starting point.

Third, I like to make sure I can add local support on a bill. Local bands bring people out who may not have already been interested in the show, and they also make sure the fans of the headliner come out. If the average concertgoer can check out their best friend’s band in addition to their favorite band, they are much more likely to attend the concert. Some agents allow local support on tours and some do not.

With local bills, my first concern is the length of time the band has been playing and how their draw is currently. A band that has been around for 5 years has an idea of how things work, and knows how to get people out versus a band that has been around less than a year. Generally speaking, these younger bands spend about 90% of their time practicing before a show, and may have to play to some empty rooms before they learn the hard way that putting in as much time promoting the show and getting people out is just as crucial as practicing.

My second concern is the length of time between gigs. Sometimes even an experienced band can overplay, and if I see a show a week or two before the proposed date in or around the Boston area, I’ll pass on them for now or push for a later date. As a general rule, I like to see bands leave at least 3-5 weeks between gigs, hopefully closer to 4-5. Overplaying can hurt even the most experienced and popular band, and I try to avoid bands that overplay.

Thirdly, I look at the local band and their ability to contribute to an excellent bill. I may have a great local metal headliner, but the alternative rock band won’t fit on that bill. While paid draw is important, putting on mixed genre shows is never really a good thing unless it’s a soft ticket festival in my opinion. There are exceptions, but there should be an ebb and flow to the bill, and a band that has a little less of a draw but will fit really well with the package can be huge. That band can grow from that bill and turn into the next headliner down the line.

What should I be doing with my time at Berklee if I want success in the music business world?

LT: The Berklee music business program teaches students about the music business academically, and this is so important. It will set you apart from people who have no music business education, because you’ll know how to study trends, how to think about the music business and it’s developments, and how to market yourself if you’re looking to work as a performer or in a band versus as an intermediary. However, the two biggest assets in the music business are the relationships you have, and the experience you have. Acing all your courses at Berklee is an incredible feat, but agencies, promoters, and management companies are concerned with what you have done. Boston is the ideal environment for getting your feet wet in the music industry because there are a ton of young, impressionable bands mixed in with some of the next big things in music. If you want to become a manager, take on a band and see if your approach works with them. If you want to become an agent, go see live shows and introduce yourself to promoters in various cities. See if you can book a tour and how well you can do for the artists while they’re playing. Maybe you won’t get them guarantees right away, but you can negotiate other concessions and route the tour properly while building relationships with buyers and promoters. If you want to become a promoter, go scout bands as often as possible. If I had it my way, Berklee Music Business students would be required to attend at least one live show per week. Truthfully speaking, you NEED to go to shows if you want to do anything music business related as an entrepreneur. Knowledge capital is your most valuable asset. But as a promoter, your biggest skill set should be building compelling bills comprised of solid bands that play great shows and pack the house. The best way to do this is to go find these artists and talk to them.

When I was at Berklee, I worked for a completely student run company called Hyphen Productions. We managed artists, booked tours, and put on some great shows. Granted, we were broke college students and couldn’t rent rooms right off the bat. But you would be surprised at how venue buyers across New England are receptive to college students that are living the experience, and have firsthand knowledge of an up and coming band. Talent buyers aren’t at the underground basement show that had 150 people on a Saturday night, and students have the ability to find bands before buyers can, if for no other reason, because they’re intelligent and passionate fans. I sent complete bills to The Western Front, The Middle East, and Great Scott as a student, and they picked up a few of them. This allowed me to build relationships with the staff at various venues and gain the trust of promoters in the city. While I rarely ever made money (the bands and the venue made the money), it helped me build relationships with bands, which were soon emailing Hyphen Productions daily to book their tours or their next show. They trusted us to put them with solid bands that would bring people out, and that trust is exactly the type of thing you’ll need to be successful as a music business entrepreneur.

Simply stated, work hard in your classes. But your academic education won’t be complete without real world experience. An internship is great, but going out and doing it yourself is even better.

What are some of your hobbies?

LT: Besides going to see as many of my favorite bands as I can, I try to play my bass as often as possible. I’m not in any bands anymore, but I still stick with it and practice everything I learned from my private instructors at Berklee. I also love watching sports, and I’m a huge Manchester United fan.

What has been your most proud moment during your career?

LT: Wednesday December 7th 2011. I scouted a band called Endangered Speeches, an 11 piece hip hop/reggae outfit comprised of Berklee musicians. Their lead singer is Mariletta Konstatara, a popular artist in Greece with one of the best selling singles in Greek pop history. I had previously sent a few bills to a large hip hop promoter in Boston, and when I saw Talib Kweli’s group was coming to play The Middle East Downstairs, I knew I had to reach out to him to get Endangered on the bill. Up to that point, I had done 40-60 paid on 4 band bills at The Western Front, so this took a gigantic amount of trust from the promoter to allow me to add them as a co-headliner. To curb his skepticism, we agreed to sell 100 presale tickets by the day of show. Up to that point, Endangered Speeches had a draw of 50-80 paid, which is solid but not even close to what it takes to headline next to Talib Kweli on a Middle East Downstairs bill. Endangered rose to the challenge and developed “hustle teams” where they went around the T stops in Boston performing and/or reaching out to anyone and everyone. This face-to-face promotion more than doubled their paid draw in a matter of months and the show sold out. You’ll see very few sold out Wednesday night shows at 575 cap rooms, but this was the most packed I’ve ever seen The Middle East. We worked together to develop and execute a plan and every member worked equally as hard as the next. By taking the proper steps to make sure their friends/family/co-workers came out, and working extremely hard to make new fans, Endangered Speeches was able to push 180 presale tickets (80 over the required minimum), and they had one of the best shows I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. I’ll never forget that feeling of watching a band grow right before your eyes. When Endangered’s set was over, most of the room emptied out and it was obvious who everyone was there to see. Talib Kweli is one of the all time great lyricists and I’m a huge fan, but trust me when I say that Endangered had the crowd in the palm of their hand that night. It was beautiful and is what led to my choosing to be a promoter. That feeling was unparalleled and was easily the greatest moment during my career where all the hard work came together to help produce something amazing.

Has your business changed much since you started? How so?

LT: When I first started booking bands, EPK’s were the craze. Sonicbids and Reverbnation were necessary. Towards the peak of their popularity, so many other EPK sites came out. It seemed there was a new way to get your band online every week. In the last year, the market has become over flooded with press kit services, and I think everyone got tired of them. Truthfully speaking, EPK’s are not the worst, but onesheets and websites are a much better way to make your band stand out.
I also think that since I started booking, the video has become a necessity whereas previously it was a great addition but not required. Everyone needs to see your band now, and without a video you may lose out to another band that has one with or without a ton of views. As the music business changes, the ways to present the artist are changing. The move from press kits to websites I believe is here to stay, and in the next year, there may be even more requirements to get the best gigs in addition to videos. To refer back to your question, my business is booking talent at venues, and the methodology of booking has changed significantly even in the last few years.

What has been your most difficult decision thus far in your career?

LT: My toughest decision was deciding to leave my job in public accounting in Florida and rolling the dice on auditioning for Berklee to pursue a career in the music industry. I was born and raised in Florida, went to college in Florida, and started my career as an accountant not too far from where I grew up, and it was a huge decision to move into the cold weather into a city where I didn’t really know anyone. Needless to say, it was the best decision of my life and I can’t even imagine where my life would be if I chose not to audition and let my fear of failure get the best of me.